


Public House

by SpiderKillerTrino



Series: Legend of Zelda Kiss Scenes [30]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Kiss scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 16:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderKillerTrino/pseuds/SpiderKillerTrino
Summary: Princess Zelda spends time with her favorite Royal Engineer, Link, at the Castle Town pub, where she asks him a very important question.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Legend of Zelda Kiss Scenes [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207004
Kudos: 7





	Public House

**Author's Note:**

> As of the posting date, this is my latest story. My AO3 archive has now caught up to my fanfiction.net archive. 
> 
> Originally posted to fanfiction.net on Feb. 27, 2021.

Fourteen-year-old Zelda’s pen hovered over the parchment page of her journal. It had been hovering for the last ten minutes, and still the page lay blank before her. The blonde princess sat staring at it the whole time, trying to think of  _ something _ to write as an entry for it.

Obviously, today had not been very eventful; what was the point of a journal entry if there was noteworthy about the day?

It had been a problem plaguing Zelda for the last few weeks now. After the messy incident with Chancellor Cole and the demon Malladus had ended, she’d had a  _ very _ easy time recording the events thereof in her journal; it had taken her a couple weeks, in fact, to get the whole story onto the parchment. Now, scarcely a month after everything had gone down, the pace of her life had slowed dramatically back down, and, frankly, she found herself bored. The tutoring sessions that used to feature commonly in her journal entries no longer seemed worthy of writing down. And besides the addition of swordsmanship lessons (being forced to possess Phantoms as a spirit for half a year had given her a bit of an aptitude for the art), her daily life had not changed much since the incident. It had only gotten less meaningful.

Perhaps that should be what she would write about this evening?

The keening of a train’s whistle broke her abruptly out of her thoughts. She suddenly rose, set her pen down on her desk, and hastened to the balcony of her bedroom. From there, she could look straight down on the private railyard of Hyrule Castle. The railyard was far less busy than the station in front of the castle, being set apart exclusively for Royal business. Ever since her adventure had ended, the sound of train whistles from the yard would invariably send her hurrying to the nearest window. There was always one train in particular - or rather, one  _ person _ \- that she always hoped to see.

Zelda found herself thanking her lucky stars as she watched a short blond boy her age step off the engine, clad in the uniform of the Royal Engineers. Link was something of a prodigy among the Engineers, having been inducted barely seven months ago and not only a second lieutenant already, but having qualified for all three branches of the corps - Conductor, Engineer, and Rail Guard - the youngest trooper ever to gain either of those achievements. He’d certainly earned his accolades, though; he had been the one to travel the length and breadth of New Hyrule helping Zelda reclaim her body from Malladus. With the two of them travelling alone, he’d been forced by necessity to perform the duties of all three branches, and had put up quite an impressive showing.

But that was not why Zelda rejoiced to see him.

During the half-year she’d been separated from her body, Link had been one of a precious few people she’d had the ability to communicate with. And with them riding together on their quest, it was only natural that they’d fill the lonely hours in conversation; it certainly beat hour after hour of hearing nothing but engine noises. As a result, the two of them knew each other’s lives like their own. Zelda had gotten to experience the life of a Royal Engineer firsthand, and in return had confided in Link about her unadventurous life in the royal court. It was inevitable that a bond would develop between them over the course of the mission. 

Zelda knew - and had known even before their adventure had ended - that she’d developed a crush on the lad. Well, perhaps that would be putting it too mildly, as her affection for him ran a bit deeper than a crush at this point. Whether or not he felt the same was a mystery to her, though; he turned out to be deeply committed to his duty to her, and as such was somewhat challenging to get a read on. And she hadn’t yet figured out a way to draw an answer from him without being awkwardly blatant about it.

But maybe that was her only option. So she had a plan today.

Within minutes, she had navigated the halls of the castle and stepped out into the railyard, coming towards Link with a jovial greeting. The young Engineer turned to see her and grinned broadly and waved in return. As she finally reached him, she queried, “How was the supply run?”

Link smiled again. “Went off without a hitch,” he replied, “and the Anouki certainly appreciated the shipment. How’ve things been here?”

“Boring,” Zelda answered. “I can’t even think of anything to put in my journal tonight!”

Link quirked a brow in amusement. “Maybe you should write about that,” he said, only in jest, though he didn’t know she’d already been seriously considering just that.

Zelda smirked. “Maybe,” she conceded. “Or perhaps if we had dinner together this evening, that might give me something to write about.”

Link’s eyes widened. “Are you talking hypothetically or for real here?” he asked, somewhat incredulous.

Zelda grinned. “I hear the public house serves the best meals in Castle Town. I thought we might give it a try.”

Link nodded. “The food there’s to die for,” he commented. “Not sure the atmosphere would be up to par for royalty though.”

Zelda scoffed. “Who needs atmosphere? I’ll have you to stare at all evening!” Link blushed at that, but still laughed with her as he agreed to go there with her.

…

As it turned out, the public house was nothing like the castle dining hall, in the best possible way. Sure it was dim and somewhat on the noisy side, but it felt lived-in and homey compared to the castle. Zelda and Link had thoroughly enjoyed their time here so far; the staff and patrons alike had welcomed her enthusiastically with open arms, the meal was stellar, the cider served with it was refreshing, and they’d even enjoyed a few games of darts on the side, with each other and with some of the other patrons (Zelda had once managed to play one of the most experienced players there to a tie).

Now they were seated together at the counter again, nursing fresh mugs of cider. “This place is so much better than I expected,” Zelda observed in the middle of their conversation. 

Link smiled warmly. “I’m glad you like it here. Maybe we could come here more often?”

Zelda grinned. “I was about to ask you the same,” she said with a laugh. “You wanna know what I like most about here?” Link’s brows rose in question, so the princess answered, “I like how it’s the one place where everyone’s not hanging on my every word. It means I don’t have to worry about it being awkward to…” despite her words, she still trailed off, working up the confidence to continue.

“Worry about what?” Link inquired, leaning in a bit, his face the very picture of curiosity.

Her resolve steeled, Zelda answered, “I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in us as a thing.”

Link blinked, face getting a little rosy. “Your gr...Zelda,” he said, correcting himself partway through, “are...are you asking me out?”

Zelda smirked. “I think we’d use the term ‘courting’ back at the castle,” she quipped, “but yeah, I am.”

Link flushed fully, taken off guard, it seemed. But he recovered his wits quickly, and his answer filled Zelda with joy: “I...it’s actually a relief you asked. I’ve been worrying myself over how to ask  _ you _ out. I just didn’t...wasn’t sure I even  _ should _ . I mean, my duty is to you anyway, and I didn’t know if I could even dream of…”

Zelda quieted him with a hand on his arm. “Link” she said, “I don’t think anyone could perform greater duties to me than you already have. The thing is, we got to know each other pretty well on our adventure, I think; well enough for me to fall hard for you. Can you think of any reason why we  _ shouldn’t _ be together?”

She had him there, Link had to admit. Not that there was any chance of him saying no, but even if there were, Zelda was proving  _ very _ convincing. “I...I’d love to call myself yours,” Link answered at length.

That put a smile on Zelda’s face. Her hand moved up from Link’s arm to rest behind his head. She used her hold to pull his head in toward hers. Link, sensing what she was after, closed his eyes, bringing a hand to her waist as he began leaning in of his own accord.

“This is it, friends! He said yes!” came a sudden call from  _ somewhere  _ in the pub, shocking them apart. All around the pair, raucous clapping erupted, mingled with jovial shouts of approval. The two looked around to see just about every eye in the taproom on them, most cheering the new couple (Zelda also thought she saw a few rupees changing hands).

Link looked at her, confusion written all over his face. So she explained, “I  _ may  _ have let it slip to someone what I planned to do. Didn’t think he’d tell everyone, though.” Link began chuckling softly, shrugging away the redness in his face as tankards were raised from every corner of the room, toasting Zelda’s boldness and Link’s agreement.

Smirking, Zelda decided to give them all a show. She turned Link’s face back toward her, then leaned in and laid a wild, jubilant kiss on his lips. Link flushed upon feeling the princess’ lips pressed against his. But he rolled with it and returned the kiss with just as much enthusiasm, if not more, as the taproom exploded in applause again, patrons egging them on.

…

“That was...wow!” Link declared as the two of them sat on a park bench not far from the public house. It was well into twilight now, and the gaslights around Castle Town had been lit, bathing the pair in a dim but warm glow as they sat together, hand-in-hand.

Zelda smiled. “It sure was,” she concurred. “Sorry about the sudden attention, though. I didn’t think word would get around to  _ everyone _ there.”

Link shrugged. “I don’t mind. It sorta felt...right, actually.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Zelda whispered. Then she leaned in, planting feather-light kisses on his cheek and along his jaw, kisses that he returned in kind. Then, their lips found each other again. This kiss was softer than the first, and longer, laced with more affection, if it was even possible. 

It was quite a while before their lips parted, and when they did, Zelda could see pure, unadulterated adoration in Link’s eyes as he gazed back at her. “I’m so glad I worked up the courage to ask you out like this,” Zelda whispered.

Link leaned in and kissed her softly again. “So am I,” he answered.


End file.
